The Ties that Bind
by TheOnlineTypewriter
Summary: Years after the boundaries between worlds were closed, Lyra and Will are given a possible chance to see each other once again, but it brings with it a drastic deadline with dire consequences if the deadline is not met.
1. Chapter 1

**The Ties that Bind**

 **Chapter 1: Chance Meetings**

It was a particularly cool Midsummer's day, a brisk wind blowing through the Oxford streets as the 17-year-old Will Parry worked his way against the cold air, making his way to the Botanic Gardens, as he had every midsummer's day for the last 4 years. Reaching the garden, he sat where he usually did and waited, letting his mind travel back to memories of the adventures he had enjoyed when he was 12, and of the girl he had come to love only to have her pulled from his grasp. Will, for his part, had tried to move on in other aspects of his life. That coming September, he was to be attending Brasenose, one of the most prestigious colleges at the University of Oxford, to study Physics, having been inspired by Mary. Kirjava was curled up on Will's lap, and also thought back as well. However, the two noticed something unusual. In front of him, on a flat stretch of grass, a young man with dark hair was sitting, seeming to talk with an otter standing by him. Alongside this, Will was able to tell even from a distance that the young man looked extremely pale, almost sickly. Will watched as someone ran up to the pair and tried to push the otter away from the young man, brushing said otter in the process. Will heard the young man shout out, sounding almost pained, and the person was frightened off by the otter, who then settled next to the young man. Everything he had just seen flew around Will's head like a whirlwind: the proximity between the young man and the otter, the pain the young man showed when the otter was hit, and the young man's sickliness all lead Will to a single, impossible conclusion. Unsure of what to expect, Will made his way across to the young man who, Will realised, was also looking down at some notes, as well as talking quietly to the otter.  
"Hello?" Will greeted. The young man looked up. Closer up, the young man looked even sicker, as if he was on life support.  
"Hi. Don't mind the otter. She's not bothering me." The young man replied. When Will glimpsed the young man's notes, he saw a few words he recognised, such as 'Dust', 'dark matter' and 'dimensions'. The otter looked at Kirjava, who was by Will's leg, with interest.  
"Is she settled?" Will asked. The young man raised an eyebrow at Will's question.  
"She's your dæmon, right?" Will asked as a follow-up, which increased the young man's confusion.  
"How do you -?" The young man asked.  
"It's a long story, but I've been to your world and come back." Will remarked, holding out his hand to shake. "I'm Will Parry."  
"I'm Peter Stephenson." The young man, Peter, replied, shaking Will's hand. "This is Adara."  
"This is Kirjava." Will replied, petting his own dæmon. "What are you doing in this dimension, Peter?"

Meanwhile, in a more clement version of Oxford, Lyra and her daemon Pan were also sitting in the Botanic Gardens. Her studies had progressed, and she was to start an undergraduate degree in the subject of alethiometry come the autumn. The walk to the Botanic Gardens had been mostly uneventful, apart from Lyra having a small discussion about her studies with an academic that had taught her alongside the usual lessons at St Sophia's for the last year or so. With all the stresses over the recent months, Lyra was happy to have a few moments of peace and contemplation of what happened all those years ago. She could have remained in that garden for hours but suddenly, her quiet reverie was interrupted by somebody clearing their throat. Lyra turned to see a man with fair but greying hair and a woman with dark, also greying, hair. Lyra also noticed that standing slightly behind the two adults, there was a young woman, no older than Lyra, with blonde hair. Rather mysteriously, the trio only had 2 dæmons between them: a barn owl that was sat on the shoulder of the man, and a wolf that standing beside the trio.  
"Are you Lyra Silvertongue?" The woman asked. Lyra was a bit shocked at first, as she had no idea who any of the trio were.  
"Yes. Can I help you?" Lyra asked.  
"That's what we hope." The man added. "We have a sensitive matter and have been informed that you may have some expertise in these sorts of matters."  
Lyra, intrigued but still a bit defensive, turned to the three. As she did, the girl moved from behind to in front of the two adults.  
"I need you to help me get back home." The girl stated. Lyra was going to ask for clarification, but the girl suddenly and without warning, collapsed.

Back in Will's dimension, he and Peter were sitting at a bench near where they had met, whilst their dæmons were talking whilst sat on the green itself. Will sat in rapt attention as Peter explained the story of how he had ended up in Will's dimension. Peter was the son of two academics at his version of Oxford, both of whom were researching the field of theoretical physics, or at least Stephen's world's version of it. Peter had known that his parents had been involved with some secret research, as they had regular meetings with other academics but shared little detail with Stephen, and sometimes even acted as if the meetings never took place as well. One particular night, his parents were meeting with their colleagues at the Stephenson's house, within the dining room. Unbeknownst to his parents or their colleagues, Peter had crept into the kitchen and was listening through the thin door, currently closed. Whilst not able to make out all that was being said, he was able to determine a few phrases, including something about a Rusakov field, dimensions, and someone named Asriel. Peter remembered his parents mentioning this Asriel figure before, after a story was published in the newspaper, saying that he had disappeared, though the details had grown faint with time. One phrase that Peter was able to capture intrigued the youngest Stephenson.  
"We'll attempt to use the prototype tomorrow night." Someone said from within the room. "Speed is as imperative as secrecy."  
There were murmurs of assent, then the sound of movement. Peter sprinted from the door, Adara right behind him and the pair were able to get back up to Peter's room without seeming like he ever left it. The following night, both his parents said that they had to head out for some formal event, though Stephen quickly realised that this was simply a cover to go to whatever 'the prototype' was. A few moments after his parents left the house, Peter snuck out as well. He followed his parents from their house, along the dark Oxford streets, keeping to the shadows so that he wasn't detected. He followed his parents all the way to one of the old science buildings, that Peter remembered had been closed by the Church due to some research that had used the facility whilst it was open. As Peter crept through the corridors, he heard muffled voices from one of the rooms. Sneaking up to the window, Peter watched the scene in intrigue: his parents and the other academics who were at the meeting the day before. They were standing round a bizarre device: There was a sphere connected to a cone, directed towards a large empty space in the room. A large number of wires were attached to the sphere and fixed it to an amalgam of circuit boards below this arrangement. Unfortunately, whilst Peter could hear someone speaking inside the room, he wasn't able to make out any of the words that were being said. He watched with interest as the academics began to activate the device and a low frequency humming began to fill the air. Unfortunately, in his interest, Peter was leaning against the door more heavily, meaning that said door opened, causing the Stephenson to fall into the room. When Peter stood back up, everyone in the room was looking at him with expressions ranging from confusion to fear to anger. Peter slipped round into the room when one of the academics lunged at him. He ended up in front of the device as the frequency and amplitude of its humming increased.  
"Peter! Move!" Both Peter's parents shouted, but it was too late. A beam of light fired from the device and hit the air next to Peter. Much to his surprise, the air seemed to split apart. However, Peter's wonder quickly became fear as he realised he was being pulled towards this tear in space. He tried to move away, but the pull was too strong. Just before he passed through the tear, Peter saw his mum take something from her pocket and throw it at her son. Peter caught it and recognised it in an instant. It was a journal that his mum always had on her. She wrote her scientific ideas in there, as she felt she could have a eureka moment at any moment. Peter caught it.  
"Use it to find your way home!" Peter's mum instructed Peter. It was last thing he heard either of his parents say, and the last he saw of them, before he passed through the tear. Next thing he knew, Peter was lying outside on the green where he and Will were now talking, with no sign of the tear. "I've been working on a way back since then." Stephen finished, leaving Will in quiet shock.

Back in Lyra's world, the two adults and Lyra had been able to get the girl to the two adults' house. Whilst the girl rested, the two adults gave Lyra some information about the situation over a mug of chocolatl. The adult's dæmons were in the next room watching the girl until she came back around, whilst Pan sat on Lyra's right shoulder. The two adults were Dr Arthur and Dr Charlotte Stephenson, both physics researchers at Gabriel College, not that far from Jordan where Lyra was lodging. They explained that they had been involved with a confidential project who were trying to open a gateway between two worlds. However, when it came to the reasoning behind the project, both adults were slightly evasive, though they mentioned that it was to gain allies for some cause.  
"Who's the girl?" Lyra asked the two adults. However, before they had a chance to answer Lyra's question, the two adults' dæmons crashed into the room, Arthur's owl dæmon Safirah flying in, and Charlotte's wolf dæmon Acario sprinting in.  
"Sarah's awake!" Acario declared.  
"Thank you, Ari." Charlotte commented, before turning back to Lyra. "I think we'll let Sarah introduce herself."  
Charlotte and Arthur lead Lyra and Pan to the next room where the girl was sitting up. She looked sicker than when Lyra had been approached at the Botanic Gardens. This and the apparent lack of a dæmon suddenly made sense to Lyra.  
"You're from a different world." Lyra deduced.  
"She is." Charlotte admitted. "We were testing a prototype for a gateway of sorts. It was meant to open a one-way split, just to test the waters, but there were complications."  
Charlotte and Arthur looked to each other, almost mournfully, though this was only for a moment.  
"When the device activated, someone from our world travelled to the other side, and Sarah was pulled into ours." Charlotte continued. "The device collapsed, and we haven't been able to sync it to the same world."  
"What do you need me for?" Lyra queried, confused.  
"I heard about your travels to another world from another academic, someone called Malcolm Polstead. He told us that you had mentioned that you had become attached to someone from another world. From the details we could ascertain, that world was the one our device connected to."  
"So, what do you actually need me to do?" Lyra asked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Secret Orders**

After the chance meeting with Peter, Will made a decision and called a regularly used number on his phone. As expected, it only took two rings before the person answered.  
"Hello?" The familiar voice of Mary Malone asked.  
"Mary, it's Will." Will greeted.  
"I know. I do have you saved on my phone." Mary remarked with a slight chuckle. "What can I do top help?"  
"It's a long story. I have someone I need you to meet. It's a bit difficult to explain over the phone." Will replied. "Trust me, you'll want to meet them too."  
"Well, I've got a meeting with my research group, but I'll be done within the next two hours." Mary told Will, noting the urgency in the 17-year-old's voice. "How about you come by my office at about 5?"  
Will agreed and hung up, before going back to Peter and explaining the situation.

Meanwhile, Lyra was still waiting in the Stephensons' house. Charlotte and Arthur had attempted to explain what Lyra's role in the whole endeavour would include, but its meaning had been lost in communication, due to a large amount of physics-related jargon; Lyra did not particularly extend her studies of physics, focussing on the courses that would enable her to study alethiometry. However, she had been able to grasp the basic concept of her role. Much like the bond between a person and their daemon, an invisible bond of some description was formed between those who fell in love. It had been proven that such a bond remained strong regardless of distance. The Stephensons, as well as a few of their colleagues whom were to be arriving at the Stephensons any minute apparently, had theorised that this may apply across the dimensional boundaries. So, they were needing Lyra's help to lock onto the dimension via her bond with Will. The Stephensons also mentioned another bond, though they were slightly evasive with further details. There seemed to be a lack of trust, though Lyra didn't particularly blame the Stephensons in that: they didn't know Lyra, and she didn't know them. Talk about other worlds was heavily monitored by the Church and the CCD, so any comment could have dire consequences. Lyra was sitting in Sarah's room with the girl in question, whilst Arthur and Charlotte were downstairs waiting for the aforementioned colleagues.  
"So, how did you get here?" Lyra asked Sarah.  
"I'm not entirely sure." Sarah replied. "I was just walking through the botanic gardens when there was what felt like a massive gust of wind, and suddenly I was in a room with a bunch of adults looking at me, including Charlotte and Arthur. Apparently, I had been in exactly the wrong place at that moment, as I passed through the rip between the worlds as it was created."  
"So, do you know what's going on with the Stephensons?" Lyra asked. However, before Sarah could answer, Safirah fluttered into the room.  
"The others are here." Safirah informed Lyra, Pan, and Sarah. "You're wanted downstairs."  
Sarah and Lyra followed Safirah downstairs, and into the Stephensons' house's sitting room. Alongside the adult Stephensons were three other academics and their dæmons, all with the familiar posture and style of other Oxford academics, and no visible sign they were a member of any secret inter-dimensional plan. One of the academics, an old man with a few wispy grey hairs, stood and stepped over to Lyra, extending his hand for the young woman to shake.  
"It's nice to meet you, Lyra. I was good colleagues with Lord Asriel, may he rest in peace." The academic remarked.  
"We were all colleagues with him, Byron." one of the other academics, a woman with thin wire rimmed spectacles and dark hair, with a few grey hairs visible, and a faint familiarity to Lyra. "We have important matters to address, so we should probably get straight to it."  
"That's fair enough." The white-haired academic, Byron, replied, stepping back and sitting again. "Though some introductions would probably be helpful. After all, I know with some certainty that we can speak in confidence here."  
The woman looked at Byron with a furrowed brow, but agreed. The three other academics introduced themselves: the white haired man was Byron Alton, who alongside being an academic of the physical sciences was a lord, known under the moniker Lord Alton. The dark haired woman was Celia Lockhurst, who happened to research and lecture at Jordan College for a good few years now, hence her familiarity to Lyra. The final academic, a man with light blonde hair and sharp features was Alexander Sharper, a member of a Inter-university organisation helping the communications and progress of several research projects. The last of the three academics gave Lyra the feeling that there were more members to this plan. The academics began to discuss a plan about re-configuring and attempting to use some kind of prototype.

In Will's world, Will and Peter walked through the Gothic architecture of Balliol College, Kirjava waiting outside, and Adara curled up within Peter's coat. In the years since the incident, Mary had progressed in the Dark Matter Research Group, with her personal experience spurring on her research, as well as the retirement of a couple of their supervisors leaving vacancies in the higher positions, which Mary was selected to fill. The benefits of the position included her own private office within the walls of the college. Peter and Will reached Mary's office, and Will knocked. There were some voices from within the office, and steps towards the doorway. The door opened and Mary was standing at the doorway. When the physics researcher saw Will, she checked her watch.  
"Is that the time?" Mary asked aloud. The other inhabitant of the room took the implied clue and stood, stepping to the doorway. They reminded Mary about a future meeting and deadline as they exited the office. Mary stepped over to the doorway a moment later and closed the door, giving the trio some privacy.  
"Your message sounded urgent, Will." Mary stated. "Is this the person you wanted me to meet?"  
Will nodded.  
"This is Peter Stephenson." Will introduced his acquaintance. "He's come a very long way."  
Adara uncurled herself from Peter's coat.  
"Why does he have an otter?" Mary queried.  
"The otter has a name." Adara retorted, shocking Mary to silence.  
"Like I said, Peter's come a very long way." Will repeated. Mary opened her mouth slightly in shocked realisation.  
"How is this possible?" Mary asked in shock. "How is he here?"  
"It's a long story." Peter remarked before starting to repeat the story that he had told Will back at the coffee shop.

In Lyra's world, the Stephensons had brought out some schematics, blueprints for their dimension crossing device. The plans were highly complex, though Lyra had noticed some similar works when she had seen some of Asriel's work when she was a child. Lyra deduced that the group had been working on their plan since even before Lyra had received the alethiometer. Struggling to follow the conversation, Lyra excused herself from the room and stood outside the room with Pan on her shoulder. There was the sound of footsteps, and Lyra turned to see Sarah standing in the hallway, having emerged from her bedroom. She seemed to have regained some strength but was still dangerously pale.  
"You shouldn't be on your feet." Lyra declared worriedly.  
"I'm fine." Sarah insisted. "I heard voices. Am I right to assume that there are members of the research group here?"  
Lyra nodded.  
"Their discussion is getting very scientific and specialised, so I wasn't able to follow it." Lyra confessed. "I decided to get some air."  
"They can get very confusing." Sarah commented.  
"So, what's your story?" Lyra asked Sarah. "You didn't say too much before."  
Sarah nodded.  
"Sorry about that." Sarah commented. "I knew the Stephensons were wanting to get you involved as quickly as possible."  
"Well, I have a moment now." Lyra informed Sarah. Sarah nodded and gestured to Lyra to follow her. Sarah lead Mary to the Stephensons' dining room where the pair sat. Pan uncurled himself from Lyra and sat underneath her chair.  
"So, how did you end up in our universe, Sarah?" Lyra asked the younger woman. Lyra breathed in and started her story. She was originally a student at a school in her version of Oxford and was walking home through the botanical gardens. Her parents both worked most of the day, so Sarah getting picked up was unlikely. As she was walking past a particular point in the gardens, she felt the wind pick up. It hadn't been windy at all that day, so it took Sarah by surprise. A moment later, there was a flash of light, and Sarah found herself standing inside a room in front of multiple scientists including the Stephensons. They were all crowded around a machine, which began to spark a few moments after Sarah had passed through to that side of the tear between worlds. Most of the scientists started shouting and looking over the machine whilst the Stephensons just stared at Sarah or rather where the tear had been.  
"After that, the Stephensons brought me here. They had some idea about what had happened, not that I believed them at first." Sarah informed Lyra. They said that the tear had transferred two people simultaneously causing itself to collapse.  
"Do you know who passed through to the other side?" Lyra asked Sarah. "The Stephensons seemed very evasive about the topic when I was talking to them earlier."  
Sarah was silent for a few moments before nodding.  
"I figured it out after a few days here. It was their son." Sarah answered. "Apparently, nobody was meant to pass through at this point, but their son had followed his parents and got pulled into the tear. The Stephensons told me when I asked about it, as I saw the pictures they have of him around the house."  
 _That must have been the second bond they were talking about._ Lyra reasoned.  
"Well, they should be very committed to getting him back and hopefully, get you back to your dimension then." Lyra commented. "How long have you been this side?"  
"I think it's been about a week." Sarah commented.  
"Well, I hope they're close because you're not looking well." Lyra stated.  
"I know I'm not well, and some of the academics mentioned that being out of your universe caused problems over a longer length of time." Sarah replied. "How bad does it get?"  
Lyra sighed and looked at Sarah with some sadness.  
"It's terminal, isn't it?" Sarah asked, her face dropping slightly.  
"If we can't get you back, then you will die, soon." Lyra admitted. "I'm sorry to be the one to break that to you."  
The pair fell into silence for a few moments  
"I'll keep fighting." Sarah stated. "I know that the Stephensons are going to do everything they can to get me home. I just need to make sure I'm alive and well enough to see that happen."  
Lyra nodded.  
"Well, I will try to do everything I can to help." Lyra assured Sarah. At that moment, Charlotte walked into the dining room.  
"Ah, there you are, Lyra. We had wondered where you'd gone." Charlotte commented.  
"Sarah and I were just chatting." Lyra replied. "She told me about who you lost."  
Charlotte sighed and pursed her lips.  
"We didn't want to tell you, in case that changed your opinion of being involved." Charlotte told Lyra. "We were also worried that if the CCD found out, then the less people who knew the reasoning and the whole plan, the better."  
Lyra nodded in understanding and agreement.  
"I know the risks are high." Lyra assured Charlotte. "You can trust me."  
Charlotte smiled, seeming genuinely relieved at Lyra's assurances.

In Will's world, Peter had concluded his story and had handed Mary the notebook his parents had given him when he had passed through the tear. Intrigued, Mary began to look through the notes.  
"This is remarkable." Mary commented. "The research in your dimension is far much more advanced than anything we have in our universe. This device, for example, is only theoretical in our world, but we could use these plans to build our own."  
Peter and Will grinned.  
"Where do we begin?" Peter asked, sounding hopeful.


End file.
